Did Dior Replace Bella Hadid With Israeli Model May Tager?
Isabella Khairiah Hadid, known professionally as Bella Hadid, the Palestinian-Dutch supermodel, has been in the headlines and trending on social media since the beginning of the latest Israel-Palestine conflict. The American model and social media personality, who was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Santa Barbara, California, is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has been raising her voice against Israel”s bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Bella Hadid’s social media posts and stories are full of expressions of outrage and support for the Palestinian people.
Bella Hadid, who began her modeling career at the age of 16, was signed to IMG Models, an international modeling agency headquartered in New York City, in August 2014.
Bella Hadid, who had made her New York Fashion Week debut in September 2014, has since walked the runways for numerous high-fashion brands, including Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Fendi, Versace, Moschino, and Victoria”s Secret. She has also appeared on the covers of numerous international Vogue editions, including American Vogue, British Vogue, French Vogue, and Italian Vogue.
In addition to her modeling career, Bella Hadid is also a social media influencer with around 61 million followers on Instagram. She has been praised for her activism and philanthropy, and has worked with organizations such as UNICEF and the United Nations Foundation.
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Bella Hadid has been named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council in 2022, featured on 29 international Vogue covers, ranked #9 on Forbes” list of the highest-paid models in 2017, won the Style Influencer Award at the Fashion Los Angeles Awards in 2019, and named one of Time magazine”s 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
What happened now?
Bella Hadid has been vocal as the Israel started its offensive on Gaza following the Hamas surprise attack on October 7 that killed 1,400 in Israel. “This is the most intense bombardment in the history of Gaza. US White House National Security Council dangerously says Israel “owes no-one any justification” and that it will have “no red lines.” Innocent lives should always be justified in the name of humanity,” she wrote on Instagram condemning Israel’s destructive air raids on Gaza.
“Injured civilians currently can’t call ambulances. Medics are begging reporters to let them know where bombardments are happening, but reporters don’t know either because of the internet outage. The people of Gaza have nowhere to go. Children are dying. Please #ceasefirenow,” she added while asking for a ceasefire in the blockaded enclave situated on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Noticing Bella Hadid”s pro-Palestine posts, pro-Israeli social media accounts began tagging Christian Dior, commonly known as Dior, a French multinational luxury fashion house, and demanded the removal of the supermodel from their list of celebrity brand ambassadors. Bella Hadid had made her debut for the Dior brand in 2016, showcasing its Cruise 2017 collection at Blenheim Palace in Oxford.
Why is everyone talking about May Tager?
As the brand recently released its new holiday campaigns, featuring May Tager, an Israeli model, people began connecting the dots and spread the news that the French brand had replaced Bella Hadid with May Tager. The social media was filled boycott calls against Dior suggesting the decision was done after pressure from Israel and the brand is anti-Palestine.
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Notably, the Israeli model has also made several posts in support of releasing the Israeli hostages who are in Hamas custody now.
What is the truth?
A recent fact check by the news agency Associated Press reveals that the “replacement” news is false. The fact check claims that Bella Hadid”s contract with the fashion house ended in March 2022 and that May Tager had been featured in its campaigns in 2022 as well.
During Bella Hadid”s contract with the luxury brand, starting in 2016 as a brand ambassador for Dior”s makeup, the supermodel made several pro-Palestine comments, which did not affect her contract at all, the fact check says.
There are Dior 2022 campaign videos are available on May Tager”s Instagram page.
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